Gutters and downspouts are mounted on most residential and commercial structures along the lower edge of the roof of the structure to receive water draining off of the roof, such as during a rainstorm. Gutters come in many different styles, including K gutter, half round gutter, or commercial box gutter, but all are generally formed with an open top through which water is received into a trough or channel that delivers the water by gravity to a downspout for discharge away from the building structure. The presence of leaves and debris in the gutter trough will often clog the gutter and the downspout, preventing water from draining down the downspout and away from the building structure. Gutters are often mounted on a plurality of hangers that are spaced along the length of the gutter and fastened to fascia boards by nails or screws such that the gutter is suspended from the hangers.
Gutter covers are mounted on the top of the gutter, usually by screws spaced along the length of the front lip of the gutter. Gutter covers come in many configurations. Some have openings in the cover for water to pass into the gutter trough, while others are solid with a curved front edge that allows water to follow the curve into the gutter trough while leaves and debris are discharged off the cover away from the gutter. One such gutter cover can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,012, granted to Gobind Bahroos et al, on Jan. 6, 2004, wherein the curved front edge allows water to pass into the gutter trough. This gutter cover disclosed in the Bahroos patent is mounted under the shingles at the roof line to extend over the gutter trough. Some gutter covers combine the solid configuration with a curved front end and an apertured portion, such as is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,760, granted on Apr. 26, 2005, to John Seise, Jr., where the gutter cover is mounted under the shingles and provides a portion with holes to allow the passage of water off the rounded nose into the gutter trough. A similar gutter cover, but having holes through the entire cover, is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,944,991, issued to Hyun Kim on Sep. 20, 2005.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,837, granted to James Ealer on Nov. 28, 2000, the gutter cover is supported between the front lip of the gutter and wedged under the shingles along the edge of the roof. The Ealer gutter cover has a solid portion next to the roof edge and a plurality of channels and slots formed in the lower portion to allow the passage of water through the gutter cover into the gutter trough. The channels in the Ealer gutter cover are formed of the material in the sheet metal member and direct water outwardly toward the front lip of the gutter. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,798 issued to Richard Kuhns on Dec. 5, 1995, the gutter cover is formed in a box-like configuration with the roof side being mounted under the shingles and fastened to the gutter by mounting screws. The gutter cover in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,562, granted to John Sapia on Apr. 26, 1994, has a similar configuration.
Other gutter covers, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,755, issued on May 30, 2000, to Armand Maanum simply form a cover that extends from the roof line directly to the front lip of the gutter with the body of the gutter cover being formed with diagonal slots that allow the passage of water into the gutter trough. Not all gutter covers are mounted under the shingles at the roof line, as can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,879, granted on Apr. 14, 1998, to Vernon Sweet, where the roof side of the gutter cover is fastened by nails to the fascia board underneath the roof edge. A solid gutter cover with a rounded front edge can also be mounted to the gutter, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,837, issued on Aug. 12, 1986, to Tony Beam, where the back edge of the gutter cover is fastened to the gutter and to the fascia board by nails passing through the gutter and gutter cover.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,228, issued to Alan Meckstroth on Jul. 2, 2002, the gutter cover is formed with a rounded front edge to urge water into the gutter trough, but also incorporates a drip lip at the forward edge of the gutter cover to direct water away from the front face of the gutter. A second drip lip is provided under the gutter cover to direct water coming through the gutter cover into the trough instead of along the fascia board. This drip edge, as well as the gutter cover is mounted underneath the shingles at the front edge of the roof.
It would be desirable to provide a gutter cover that would be operable to effectively drain water into the gutter trough while preventing leaves and debris from entering the gutter trough. It would also be desirable to provide a gutter cover than can be easily mounted on the gutter structure without requiring the use of fasteners to retain the gutter cover in position on the gutter.